Pottermore brings Harry Potter e-books to public libraries

Pottermore, the company that is in charge of handling the digital side of the Harry Potter book series, has made the magnanimous decision to bring all of the iconic wizarding tales to public libraries throughout the country. The OverDrive platform, which helps libraries offer e-book rentals and lending programs, will help with distribution. This is a nice turn of face for the industry after major publishers decided to end library e-book programs.

The digital Harry Potter novels, available in more than 20 languages, will be brought to 18,000 public libraries and school libraries as a result of this announcement. The way e-book renting works is that users need to enter their library card number to be eligible to gain access to a book. Then, there are limitations to how long the content can be accessed. There are numerous piracy concerns among publishers, which is why many have been dodgy about joining.

But the trailblazing Harry Potter franchise isn't falling into that mold. "J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is a once-a-lifetime phenomenon and has been an extremely significant catalyst for reading and literacy for current and future generations. We are honored to bring this beloved storytelling experience digitally to public and school libraries worldwide," said Overdrive CEO Steve Potash in a statement.